Show Me your Flat Car Trains

a rare bird on a weaver flat car.  PIE was king back in the 50s.

You know when Arnold started this thread last week, I didn't think I would have much to offer.  I put together an array of mixed makers (Menards, Marx, Lionel(MPC),Mettoy, Hornby and Fandor) on 6/23 and really thought that was all I had.  Well today (Saturday) I went looking for something in my storage area (think "Raiders of the Lost Ark") and found a few more.  This was so much fun (Thanks Arnold) that I thought I would post the rest.

In 1938 W.O Coleman and A.C. Gilbert merged their firms and created American Flyer Manufacturing Company, a division of which was American Flyer Trains and moved all operations from Chicago to New London, Connecticut. They began to create an entirely new line of trains, 3/16" scale but pre -war they retained 0 gauge. Full "S" gauge trains would emerge after the war.  However by 1940 and 41 the catalog was just about full of these new trains.  For this thread, we have the 1940-41 #482 American Flyer flat with log load.  Unlike many manufacturers who barely attached their logs to a flat car and hence finding the car 80 years later with the logs intact is near impossible, Flyer banded these logs to the car with form fitting metal bands. This is the ORIGINAL log load and still has the car number printed on the logs on this side and "American Flyer Lines"  on the other.

A Hornby (Hatchette) flat car with vertical stanchions and chain retainers.  Original car was 1950's but this Hatchette reproduction was 2000-2004

A couple of barrel cars from Hornby (also repro from Hatchette). One on left is likely whisky or maybe beer, one on right is listed as a "wine" car. Original cars from 1940's but these are from about 2004.

Finally, the magnificent Lionel "machinery car" , a 16 wheel, 4 truck brute to carry the heaviest loads.  This is the Lionel #6418 depressed center heavy duty flat from 1955-1957 .

Well that's all for me at least at the moment.

Best Wishes

Don

A couple heavy duty flats from my collection…

A K-Line Erie heavy duty flat car…

And a MTH PRR heavy duty flat I changed into a regular depressed center car by replacing the four two axle trucks with a set of Buckeye trucks. The model has yet to be re-numbered…

Tom

@Don McErlean posted:

You know when Arnold started this thread last week, I didn't think I would have much to offer.  I put together an array of mixed makers (Menards, Marx, Lionel(MPC),Mettoy, Hornby and Fandor) on 6/23 and really thought that was all I had.  Well today (Saturday) I went looking for something in my storage area (think "Raiders of the Lost Ark") and found a few more.  This was so much fun (Thanks Arnold) that I thought I would post the rest.

In 1938 W.O Coleman and A.C. Gilbert merged their firms and created American Flyer Manufacturing Company, a division of which was American Flyer Trains and moved all operations from Chicago to New London, Connecticut. They began to create an entirely new line of trains, 3/16" scale but pre -war they retained 0 gauge. Full "S" gauge trains would emerge after the war.  However by 1940 and 41 the catalog was just about full of these new trains.  For this thread, we have the 1940-41 #482 American Flyer flat with log load.  Unlike many manufacturers who barely attached their logs to a flat car and hence finding the car 80 years later with the logs intact is near impossible, Flyer banded these logs to the car with form fitting metal bands. This is the ORIGINAL log load and still has the car number printed on the logs on this side and "American Flyer Lines"  on the other.

A Hornby (Hatchette) flat car with vertical stanchions and chain retainers.  Original car was 1950's but this Hatchette reproduction was 2000-2004

A couple of barrel cars from Hornby (also repro from Hatchette). One on left is likely whisky or maybe beer, one on right is listed as a "wine" car. Original cars from 1940's but these are from about 2004.

Finally, the magnificent Lionel "machinery car" , a 16 wheel, 4 truck brute to carry the heaviest loads.  This is the Lionel #6418 depressed center heavy duty flat from 1955-1957 .

Well that's all for me at least at the moment.

Best Wishes

Don

Very, very nice Don.

I do Postwar and modern O Gauge trains, but I can greatly appreciate the charm of pre-war, American Flyer, etc.

Such a rich diversity we have in our hobby. Arnold

NP A-3 freight drag at Marias pass video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OG_pQWxu9q0

Well, this pic is from 3 years ago.  I was running a double loop on the den carpet with my grandson at the time.  He had given me a bunch of toy Caterpillar tractors as a Christmas gift, he was only 5 at the time, and we just had to put them on flat cars.  I found 3 Wisconsin Central flats somewhere for sale, and we wired them down.  The only one he did not give me was that first CAT tank unit.  I found that at a store we had in town called 'Dad's Cats', run by a retiree of Caterpillar who had it stocked with just about every CAT made tractor, crane, bulldozer, anything CAT made offered in model form in various scales by any manufacturer, plus things like the live steam stationary steam engines by Wilesco and others. This particular pic must be somewhere in carpeted FLA as they are being pulled by a blue FEC GP7, but it must have been prestrike as a blue bay window caboose is on the end.

Arnold - thank you for your compliment.  Great thread!

Don

The only one I have pictures of at the moment. B&M flat with wheel sets and trucks for my wreck train.

My oldest son made this for me 25 years ago. It will always be a favorite.

Donald

Here's a load of logs headed for the mill behind a reliable MPC era Hudson...

I've posted this before but here's one of my favorites - Fandor with airplane

A load from the Farmall works i made for a friend of mine a number of years ago.  The tractors are Ertl and the 3 gang plow kit was from an outfit in England whose name escapes me at the moment.

Here is a German V 2 on a flat car with promo Buy War Bond Signs.